The Burn and the Sting, The High and the Heat
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Clary was a bit of a brat, but that didn't stop Jace from being fascinated by her, or helping her when she got into trouble. Clace. Oneshot.


_This didn't turn out quite like I expected, but oh well. The title of this fic comes from_ Whiskey _by Jana Kramer._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the title._

Clarissa Fray was a cheerleader, and goddamn did she act the part.

She wore red lipstick, her hair was always curled perfectly around her clear skinned face, her nose turned up a the world and a disinterested expression in her eyes at all times.

Her outfits generally consisted of mini-skirts and a low cut shirts, and her finger and toenails were always painted a colour to match.

She was best friends with Kaelie Whitewillow, who was the head cheerleader, and Lydia Branwell, another cheerleader who was known for making her way through both the basketball _and_ the football team.

She didn't pay much attention in class and her grades were passable at best, except for in Art, where she flourished, but that wasn't something that she generally talked about.

She had been runner-up Prom Queen when she was a Junior, and now that she was a senior, it was fully expected that she would win, or at least, it would be close between her and Kaelie.

She drove a silver Convertible, and her parents lived in one of the biggest houses on Park Avenue.

She liked to get her own way, and when she didn't, there would be this annoyed little purse on her lips and a wrinkle on her usually smooth forehead.

She had a cool exterior but there was something about her laugh that said there was more to her.

And that was what pulled Jace Herondale in.

He was on the football team, and he had been in the same grade as Clary since they were thirteen, when he had first moved here. He had been paired up with Alexander Lightwood, who was the one who had been in charge of showing him around the school and helping him from class to class, and Alec's twin sister, Isabelle Lightwood, had been friends with Clary. Isabelle was similar to Clary, although she opened up a lot more to Jace than Clary did, given how often Jace was over at their house.

He and Clary had never really interacted much, even though they had shared classes every year and they tended to run in the same social circles. He would watch her sometimes when she was at cheerleading practice with her friends, and he was at football practice, further out on the field from them. Most of the time she was absolutely flawless, but every now and again, there would be a particular move that she would have difficulty with, and that was Jace's favourite part.

Because when she got it right, when she managed to pull off the mood, there would be this wide smile that broke out over her face, and it was so completely different from the usual, calculating smirk that she usually wore. She got rid of it almost straight away, but sometimes Jace was lucky enough to see it.

There was also the time when she was with Simon Lewis, her other best friend. They were so completely different that it was hard to see them as friends, but it was clear that they genuinely cared about each other. Apparently they had been friends for years, since they were in kindergarten, and even though their lives had diverged as they had gotten older, they still held onto each other. When they were together—Jace would sometimes see them around school or at the mall—Clary's smile was always genuine.

There had been one time when they had properly spoken to each other. It was at a party, thrown by Sebastian Verlac, who was captain of the football team. Jace didn't like him all that much, but he was a good football player and he wasn't bad at being a captain, although he tended to like taking all the credit for himself when they played a good game.

Jace had walked in on a drunk Clary in the bathroom with Sebastian in there with her. Jace had been about to close the door when he realized that Clary was mumbling 'no' under her breath. He had stopped and Sebastian had looked over his shoulder and snapped at Jace to leave, but he had been staring at Clary. She could barely keep her eyes open, but with one hand she was trying to push Sebastian away weakly. Jace hadn't thought twice about throwing a punch that had Sebastian on his ass, and then he was taking Clary, bringing her arm over his shoulder and then practically carrying her out of the bathroom.

He hadn't been sure if her parents were home and he really wasn't sure how they would react to a stranger showing up at their door with their extremely drunk daughter. Plus he had only been to her place once, and he couldn't quite remember where it was, since he hadn't been driving to the party at the time.

So he took her back to his place.

It was nowhere as flash as her one, but it would do for now. He helped her up to his bedroom and put her into bed. He took off her shoes and considered maybe loosening her dress, given how tight it is, and how uncomfortable it would be to sleep in, but he decided against it. Jace had ended up in the chair in the corner of the room, even though he had a double bed, and it took him a while before he managed to get to sleep.

When Clary had woken up in the morning, her eyes had gone wide with panic and Jace had to quickly assure her nothing had happened between them. She looked so completely different from the put together girl that Jace always saw—she looked a whole lot younger. She had snapped at him, asking what she was doing there, and Jace explained what had happened last night. Her face was pale as she admitted that she didn't remember it, the last thing she remembered was throwing back shots. He had watched her drawing herself together, jutting her chin forward and swallowing hard. She demanded that he take her home, and that she was getting a rash from his cheap cotton sheets.

"Do you want to kiss me?" Her words repeated themselves often in Jace's head. She had asked him that when they had pulled up outside her house.

He had said yes, he did want to kiss her.

Because that was the truth.

But he wasn't going to.

Not yet.

Clary had been surprised by his answer, and she had faltered, because she had already been reaching across the centre console, expecting him to say yes. Jace had said that he would kiss her later on, another time. Clary's mask had slipped back on, managing to look arrogant despite the fact that she had last nights make up smeared on her face. She had said that he probably wouldn't get another chance and got out of the car, flouncing up the drive way to her. As she reached the front door, she paused, and looked back at him, and there was a tiny smile on her face—like the one that she gave herself when she landed a new move in cheerleading.

That had been three weeks ago.

It was late on a burning hot Saturday that Jace was at the school. They didn't have a football game that day, so he was instead running laps around the school field. Alec had come and ran with him for an hour, but he had a date with his boyfriend that afternoon. Jace kept on pushing himself, until his thighs were burning and his lungs were straining in his chest. He had finished and was about to head back to his car when he had passed the gym. A couple of cheerleaders were in there, practicing their routines, and there were a few others from the football team who were lifting weights, including some of the guys who were close friends with Sebastian. He thought about going inside and saying hi, but he decided against it, and kept walking toward the car park.

He heard the shouting just before he saw the silver convertible that belonged to Clary. Jace frowned as he came around the corner properly and saw Sebastian and Clary standing on the grass strip in front of the car park. His eyes widened as he saw the way Sebastian's fists were curling at his side, as though he was going to throw a punch. Jace was sure that Sebastian wouldn't do that, not to a female.

"No! Get away from me!" Clary snapped, her fiery personality making up for her short stature. "Jace told me about what you did at Lydia's party—"

"We were just having a bit of fun," Sebastian had that tone in his voice that Jace had heard countless times before. It was that joking tone that he tried to use when he knew that he had done something wrong and was trying to play it off. Jace watched them carefully from where he had stopped walking, wondering if he should step in.

"We weren't having fun!" Clary continued, not afraid as she stepped closer so that she was getting right up in his face. "And I know that you've done this before! I know that you got Kaelie so drunk at New Years that she still can't remember what you did to her. Just because she's too scared to go to the police, doesn't mean I am!" Jace's eyes widened in surprise at that. He had no idea that Sebastian had done what he had to Clary before. Although, getting a girl drunk and taking advantage of them didn't sound like something Sebastian wouldn't do.

"Oh get off it," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "As if the police are going to believe that you didn't get yourself that drunk. You walk around in your tiny skirts and all your make up and the police aren't going to believe a slut like you—" Jace's eyes were narrow and he had just started walking toward them when there was the sharp sound of a slap. Clary had smacked Sebastian across the face, and obviously taken the taller boy by surprise because he took a step back. "You little whore—" he lunged forward at Clary and managed to get one swipe in as Jace reached them.

"Oi!" Jace yelled as he grabbed Sebastian's arm as he pulled it back again.

"What the fuck?!" Sebastian growled as he spun around and saw Jace standing there. He tried to swing at Jace, but Jace was quicker than him, and landed his second punch on Sebastian in the matter of a few weeks, and because of the same girl, in fact. Sebastian's nose spurted with blood and he stumbled backwards. "Fuck!" He swore as he pulled his keys out his pocket and then waved a hand between the two of them. "I'm going to lay assault charges on both of you!" He threatened, before turning on his heel and practically breaking out in a sprint as he headed for his car. Jace let out a huff of anger before turning to Clary.

"You alright?" He asked, stepping closer to her. Her lower lip was split, but her eyes were still sparking in defiance rather than pain.

"I'm fine," she snipped, then she swallowed hard and sighed. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm fine, thanks," she reiterated with a friendlier tone. Jace nodded, glancing toward her car.

"Were you heading home or are you going to the gym?" He asked.

"Heading home. I was just dropping off Lydia coz she's practicing with some of the other girls today, and then I saw Sebastian," Clary pursed her lips together.

"And you decided to confront him?" Jace asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you really think that was the smartest idea?"

"I'm not one to back down from a fight," Clary shot back at him.

"Mm," Jace hummed out, his eyes flicking down to her lower lip. It looked completely out of place on her perfect face, interrupting the purple lipstick she had on, and it just made the anger twist more in his stomach. "Are you gonna go to the police?"

"Why?" Clary's eyes narrowed. "You going to try and protect your football buddy?"

"What?!" Jace looked furious at the thought. " _No_. I was going to say that I could come with you, since I was there."

"Oh," Clary looked suitably ashamed. "Well...That's really nice of you. Sorry, I can...I can be a little abrupt," she made a face.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Jace stated and Clary shrugged.

"I was going to go to the police on Monday," she told him. "Me and Lydia are trying to convince Kaelie to go as well, since they actually...They actually had sex, if you can call it that," Clary's lips curled in a look of disgust, and then she hissed. Jace frowned in concern as she put her finger to her lip. "Stings a little."

"I can take care of him if you want," Jace growled. "No one should ever put their hands on you like that." Clary's eyes widened in surprise at him. "Although," he sighed. "The police is probably a better idea."

"You know..." Clary pursed her lips together. "You seem kinda handy to have around. You've saved my ass twice now." Jace just shrugged. "Maybe you'd be handy to keep around." There was a spark in her eye that made Jace raise an eyebrow. She grinned and shook her head. "Did you want that kiss now?" She asked with a tilt of her head. Jace pretended to think about it for a moment and then nodded his head with a small smirk on his head. Clary reached up, and surprisingly gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. When she lowered back down, she smirked at him. "I'll give you a kiss on the mouth once my lip is healed, and we can do it properly."

"Ri-ight," Jace drawled. Clary smiled at him and flounced off to her car. She turned on her car and reversed it out of it's parking spot. Clary wiggled her fingers by way of goodbye before driving off, leaving Jace grinning after her.

 _Let me know what you think :)_


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